Sunday, February 21, 2010

I've never been a big fan of turkey jerky, but since there's a lot more of it coming out these days, it's hard not to notice new brands and varieties. And since black pepper jerky is a favorite of mine, it's something I always have to try when I see it.

So with this black pepper turkey variety from House of Jerky, I was very intrigued since "the House" has rated so well with me on this blog on their beef jerkies.

House of Jerky is a husband and wife manufacturer of gourmet jerky, based in Evansville, IN. After having done Google searches for their brand, and read the many reviews and articles on this company, it's clear they have earned a great deal of respect among the meat snack afficionados of this country.

Interestingly, you won't find their products in any major retail outlets, only in small jerky shops and road side jerky stands.

The first thing I notice in this is the natural turkey meat flavor, quickly followed by a saltiness, and the soy sauce. The black pepper taste comes along pretty quickly after that. It also has a very smoky flavor too.

These pieces have a lot of flavor packed into them. I can soften up a piece in my mouth, and continue extracting more flavor after every 5-6 chews.

I'd say this certainly tastes like turkey; it seems to do well in retaining that unique turkey flavor.

There's a lot of black pepper taste in this, as evidenced with the coating of pepper on these pieces. There's also quite a bit of saltiness in these pieces too, though not extreme by any means.

Overall, I find this to be very tasty. As a black pepper variety, there's plenty of black pepper taste, and it retains the natural turkey meat flavors.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of real turkey meat, in small to medium sizes, and sliced in thin to medium thickness.

For the most part, it's dry, but yet manages to retain some chewiness. I don't find this tough at all. It still offers a bit of resistance in tearing apart, but I'd still classify this as being easy to eat.

House of Jerky says they use only "fresh free range hormone free turkey breast".

The meat appears to be very lean; I didn't encounter any fat, tendon, or gristle.

Overall, the meat consistency is such that this jerky provides a great eating experience, allowing me to enjoy the flavors without any detraction.

Snack Value

House of Jerky sells this through their website at a price of $10.50 for a 4oz package. Shipping is included in that price. That works out to a price of $2.63 per oz. I've been able to find their jerky at lower prices when visiting one of their outlet stores.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.63 price per ounce, this provides a good value. I'm getting a good snackability from it's good overall flavor, good meat consistency and chewing texture. That $2.63 price per ounce is higher than what you'd pay for national branded turkey jerky in grocery stores, but I think you're getting a much better product.

As a peppered turkey jerky, at the same $2.63 price per ounce, it also seems to be a good value. I do taste the natural turkey meat flavor, and it seems to chew like turkey breast meat. It's also quite peppery too. If you like a lot of black pepper on your turkey jerky, this will definitely deliver.

Rating

I'm giving this a "best" rating.

This jerky is simply great in just about every aspect I can think of. It packs in a lot of flavor, it lives up to its billing as a black pepper variety, it retains some great natural turkey meat flavor, and is easy to eat. While I would put this into the salty-side, it's not too salty.

It's very snackable, I can keep on reaching for this stuff.

I'd love to see House of Jerky add maybe one additional seasoning to this, just to give it an extra layer of complexity. But I still found this to be packed with lots of flavor, that I enjoyed it just fine.

For my recommended beer pairing, I think a honey blonde ale would work well with the turkey, and the refreshing quality will satiate the black pepper bite.

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About Best Beef Jerky

I'm Steve Johnson, and I've been in the Internet marketing and publishing business since 1997. I've been a life-long fan of beef jerky and decided to merge my profession with my snack food of choice, and gave birth to Best Beef Jerky.

I review beef jerky, turkey jerky, bison jerky, pretty much any meat jerky, even vegan jerky. I review meat sticks, biltong, cecina, carne seca, it's all fair game as long as it's meat, it's dried, and it's a snack.